A Very Conby Christmas
by love4funny
Summary: In case you were wondering just in case ...it's Christmastime for Connor and Abby.
1. A Very Conby Christmas

Title: A Very Conby Christmas

Plot: Just in case the title doesn't explain it all…It's Christmastime for Connor and Abby.

"Abby…" I heard Connor call, pushing open the door to my room.

Christ. I wasn't asleep, that much was certain, but it would be nice for him to, if he thought I was asleep, not come and wake me up every chance he got.

I sat up in bed. "What, Connor?" I asked, watching him as he walked across the room and took a seat on the other side of the bed.

He began to grin at me. I could do nothing but roll my eyes. "What is it?"

His grin faded. "Sorry, did I wake you?" he asked, looking worried.

I shook my head. "No, I was already awake," I answered. "Anyway, what are you in such a hurry to tell me?"

He looked surprised, like he had just remembered that he had something he thought was important that he needed to say. "Oh. Well, I was just going to ask if you knew what today was…" He watched me for a reaction.

I stared at him blankly. Of all of the stupid things he had asked me… "It's Sunday, Connor," I said matter-of-factly.

He started grinning again. "No, there's something else…"

I blinked. What made him think I knew? "Are you going to tell me what it is?" I asked impatiently.

He started to look more and more excited as he waited to answer my question. "Today's the 20th, Abby," he said enthusiastically, so much so that it sounded almost sarcastic.

"Yeah…so?" Maybe if I pretended not to have the slightest idea what he was talking about, then he would just forget about it.

"You know what we always do on the 20th, don't you, Abby?" He sounded slightly worried, like he was trying to figure out if maybe I had developed a case of amnesia overnight.

I gave up trying to play dumb, it wasn't getting me anywhere. "Connor," I whined. "Come on, do we really have to?"

He looked so shocked at my question. "Yes, Abby, we do. We can't be the only people without any decorations," he said, in the same tone that I had just used with him.

"Who exactly do you think is going to care?" I asked him curiously. We had no neighbours that we knew of, and no one that was planning on coming to our flat (of all places) for the holidays.

This question caught him off guard. He looked confused for a minute, before coming up with an answer. "Well…I care, and you should care…" He trailed off. He was obviously trying to guilt me into this.

"Connor, you know I'm not a Christmas person," I said, surprised at how much I sounded like I was begging him.

"Oh, but see, that's what I'm trying to change." He was beginning to remind me of one of those obnoxious salesmen on tellie that you always found yourself changing the channel to get away from. "I guarantee you, Abby, by the end of the year, you are going to be a Christmas person."

I stared skeptically at him. "Well, good luck with that," I chuckled.

"You know, Abs, if I was you, I would be a lot more careful. At this rate, Father Christmas is bringing you nothing but coal."

I started to laugh, then had to stop myself when I realised he was being serious. "Connor…"

"What?" He looked so confused and surprised that I had reacted the way I did.

"You don't still believe in Father Christmas, do you?" I asked him, hearing the unintentional concern in my voice.

He looked at me, blank-faced. "Yeah," he answered defensively. "What, you don't?"

I originally was going to tell him the truth, that no, I didn't, and neither should he at this age. But then when I really thought about it, it was kind of…cute. "Yeah, Connor, I do," I lied, chuckling as I answered his question.

"Then I don't see what's funny," he said quickly, crossing his arms in front of him. He wasn't mad technically, he was just a bit offended that I was laughing at him.

I thought of something to say. And then, almost instantly, I had the perfect answer formed in my head. "Because I've always thought I was the only one."


	2. The Race

"There," I said, pleased with myself, as I put the last ornament on my half of the tree. I glanced over, Connor's half had barely anything on it.

I must admit, I actually preferred having the tree up in the loft to having it downstairs. Not that I've have had a choice.

The only reason that we couldn't have the tree downstairs was that, simply enough, we couldn't carry its huge box downstairs. I mean, it would've been possible, but it took far too much effort and Connor and I were instinctively lazy. So we were stuck having it up here. Not that I could say I minded.

"Connor?" I walked over to where he was standing and propped my arm up on his shoulder.

He looked surprised when I called his name, like he had just realised I was standing next to him. "Hmmm?" He must've been in deep concentration, he didn't for one second look away from his bare tree.

"Do you need some help?" I asked. It had been close to 45 minutes since we started decorating the tree, and he had only put up two ornaments in that amount of time.

He shook his head. "You should go and finish your own side…after all, this is a race. If you waste all your time over here, I may just beat you, he said, grinning. Poor Connor. He was so proud of himself.

I gave him a nervous laugh. "Um…I wouldn't count on that if I were you," I said quietly.

He turned to look at me. At first, he looked confused, then started to look crushed as he realised what I meant. "Oh, Abby, you didn't…" He leaned around me to look at my finished half of the tree.

I looked down at the ground, starting to feel bad for ruining his good mood. "Yeah, sorry," I told him, flashing him an apologetic smile as I looked back up at him.

He shook his head, staring at his feet. "You win," he said sadly. His head suddenly popped back up. "Could you help with my half?" he asked me, his hands clasped together in front of him expectantly.

I nodded, a slight smile creeping across my face. "Yeah. Here, let me see that," I told him, nodding towards the ornament he held in his hand.

He looked down and noticed it, handing it over to me. "Right, sorry. Here." He watched carefully as I placed the ornament in the middle of the tree.

"How many more are there?" I asked him, even though I already knew the answer. 15-20, give or take.

He looked behind him and pointed to the box that sat, open, on the floor. "Everything in the box," he said, smiling sympathetically at me.


	3. Narnia

Together, we finished in about ten or fifteen minutes, Connor handing me the ornaments, and me putting them on the tree.

"We're done," Connor said happily. He sounded almost…surprised that what he was saying was actually true.

I laughed. "Yeah. We make a good team, you know," I said, watching him for a reaction.

He started to grin again, laughing with me. "Yay us," he chuckled, raising his had for a high-five.

I raised my hand to meet his. "Yay us," I repeated him, taking a quick glance up at the finished tree.

"Oh. Wait," I said hurriedly, going over to the spot on the wall where the outlet was.

"What is it?" He watched me curiously as I plugged in the cable for the lights.

"There," I said to myself, smiling proudly. "We forgot to turn it on," I told Connor, when I noticed his lost expression.

He suddenly understood, I could tell by the look on his face.

I walked over to the box the tree had been in, leaning over to look and make sure we hadn't forgotten anything. I saw a branch of something, down at the very bottom of the box.

"What is this?" I asked, more to myself than to Connor. He came rushing over anyway, just as I pulled it out of the box. Mistletoe. Of course.

"What? Oh, that?" he asked enthusiastically, pointing at it.

I nodded. "Yeah, Connor, that." He looked at me, with one of those 'well, shouldn't that be obvious' expressions on his face. "I think it's mistletoe."

I took a deep breath. "Right. Well, where are we going to put it?" I asked him, looking around the room for any sort of doorway we could hang it on. Only one option came to mind.

"Any ideas?" I asked him, when I saw him looking around himself the way I had just done.

He shook his head. "Nope. Not a one," he said, looking at me wide-eyed. "You?"

I nodded. "Mmhmm, I've got one," I answered, walking over to the wardrobe.

"Over here?" Connor asked, coming over to join me. I nodded, hanging it on a nail that was in the middle of the door frame. "Yeah."

I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "Come on, we've got to go and do…the rest," I said, turning to leave.

"Abby…" I heard him call my name from behind me. "Hmmm?" I turned back around to face him.

"Aren't you forgetting about something?" He stood under the mistletoe, grinning at me.

I smiled back at him, leaning in to kiss him ever so gently on the lips.

He laughed. "Oh no, Abs, I'm afraid this isn't going to cut it," he said, taking my hand and leading me into the wardrobe.

"Oh really?" I chuckled, allowing him to pull me in closer to him.

He nodded, still grinning. "You can't properly kiss someone without as much as being in the same room as them."

"Is that right?" I asked, almost whispering. By now, our faces were less than two inches away from each other, I didn't exactly need to shout for him to be able to hear me.

"And who knows, we might just find Narnia." God, I really did wish he would just shut up.

"Who cares about Narnia?


	4. What A Way to Go

"Is this really necessary?" I asked Connor, as I watched him pull all of the little figurines for the nativity out of the box.

"Oh, come on, Abs, I'm only trying to be traditional here," he said, setting a cow in the stable as a pout made its way across his face.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, you've never much cares about being 'traditional' up until now."

He turned to look at me. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, never mind." Maybe I was being a bit unreasonable about this. After all, it was just a nativity.

"Here, I'll finish," I told him, sitting on the floor next to him.

"If you're trying to get closer to me Abby, then all you've got to do is ask," he said, scooting over to try and bridge the small gap between us.

I ignored him, putting the rest of the pieces in their proper spots. I couldn't help but notice that two were missing. Joseph and the baby Jesus himself.

"Connor?" I looked at him curiously, checking his hands to make sure he didn't have them. "Hmmm?"

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head as I started to look on the floor. "Where is he?" I said to myself as I searched the surface of the coffee table again.

Connor watched me like there was something wrong with me. "Where's who? Who are you looking for? Because I honestly don't see how anyone can fit under-"

"Jesus, Connor. Where is he?" I asked, thinking that it would probably be easier to just tell him than to have to listen to his confused babbling.

His frown deepened, his eyes grew wider. "I don't think you're answering my question. Who exactly are we talking about?" he said slowly.

I rolled my eyes. It irritated me how slow he was to catch on to things. "Jesus, Connor. We are looking for the baby Jesus." "What-" "And Joseph," I added.

In his head, something automatically clicked. He did all of the things I had just done, looking on the floor, looking me over to make sure I didn't have them, though I must admit he was taking a bit longer than necessary to do this, and then checking the table top. "Well, I haven't seen him," he said, trying his absolute hardest to look innocent.

I stared blankly at him. "You must have," I told him. "You're the one who's had them until just a few minutes ago."

He threw his hands up, as if in surrender. "Abby…I swear to you…I don't have Jesus," he said slowly, waiting for me to react in one way or another. "Or his father," he added quickly, probably afraid I was going to accuse him of having something else.

"Then who do you suggest has it, Connor?" "How am I supposed to know?"

I took a deep breath. "So…you don't have him…and I don't have him…Who else could-"

It's funny how some things happen at precisely the right moment, whether it's to help you realise something that's been there all along or to help you to remember something important that you would have completely forgotten about had you not been reminded of it.

When Sid and Nancy stumbled and slid across the wooden floor of my flat, we suddenly realised what we should have from the beginning.

I heard Connor chuckling next to me. "Man," he said, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. "What?"

He looked up at me, a slight smile still showing on his face. "What a way to go."

I felt myself start to laugh. "Shut up, Connor," I said softly, still smiling as I used his shoulder to help myself get up off of the floor.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked, having to look down at him from where I stood.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we'll have to put something there to replace them," he said, waiting for me to provide him with some sort of idea.

"Hold on." He jumped up from where he was sitting, grinning like a madman. "I've got just the thing…"

"Alright, Connor, what is it?"


	5. Normal

I shouldn't have been surprised when he started grinning. There was no point in wondering what on Earth he was thinking when he rushed upstairs to the loft (I didn't like to call it his room, because it made it seem like he was just a guest I couldn't wait to get rid of). And it shouldn't have shocked me when he came back down a few minutes later with a Doctor Who figure in his hand. But I still found myself surprised and shocked when I figured out what on Earth he was thinking.

"Oh, no, Connor," I said, watching him carefully as he sat down in front of the table where we had the nativity set up. "Please tell me you're not."

He continued to grin from ear to ear as he placed it next to the wooden Mary. It dwarfed her in comparison.

"Alright, I didn't," he said. "If it makes you feel any better." I glared at him. "Oh, come on, Abs, it's only temporary," he said, strongly reminding me of a little kid with the way his voice sounded.

"Temporary…until when?" I asked, sitting down on the coffee table in front of him and tilting my head to look at him.

He stared at me blankly, until he came up with some kind of answer. "Until next year, I expect," he said, shrugging.

That wasn't quite the answer I was looking for, but, taking into consideration that this was Connor we were talking about, it could have been much worse. "So…what'll happen next year then?"

He thought again for a moment. "Everything will be back to normal then, I guess."

I felt myself start to laugh. "Normal?" He nodded. "Yeah…"

"What exactly is 'normal' for us, Connor?" I asked, eagerly awaiting his answer.

He began to chuckle as he thought of something he could say. "A…um…" He shrugged. "A mess," he said, like he was unsure of whether or not I would accept his answer.

I shook my head. "No, Connor, not a mess…" I said, laughing when I saw how confused he looked, head tilted like a dog. "An…organised…mess."


	6. Without A Hitch

The next four days had gone perfectly fine, without a hitch. All the way from the twenty-first to the twenty-fourth, things really had been back to normal, Connor's and my normal, that is.

And then came Christmas Day. We stuffed ourselves, to the point of thinking we were going to burst. We took a short walk around the block, neither of us talking because of how miserable we both felt from all of the food, which sadly involved, for the most part, a store-bought (at the last minute possible, mind you) duck.

After that came the tellie. Hours and hours…and hours of pointless, mind-numbing tellie. And it wasn't even the good kind, shows with simple, predictable plots, that you somehow still felt obliged to watch week after week. No, this wasn't that kind of tellie. This was bloody Top of the Pops, which, at first, I will admit was alright, but grew old very quickly.

As if it hadn't been bad enough already, all day Connor had been bothering me, asking me why I refused to tell him something as simple and harmless as a 'Happy Christmas.'

"The only people that I've ever told 'Happy Christmas' to are my…closest friends…and family," I had finally answered. "The people I love."

He had looked so hurt by what I had said, I couldn't help but to feel horrible afterwards. And even though he had bounced back completely after about an hour or two, I still found myself with a sharp pang of regret for making him think that he didn't matter to me, like he was just some unimportant coworker and flatmate of mine.

And then came the snow, and the cold that went along with it, just as it was starting to get dark. Connor and I had stayed watching it for a while, huddled under a blanket to keep warm, talking about all kinds of nothing.

After that, we had simply said our goodnights and gone to bed. I had given him a quick peck on the cheek, like I always did, and he had given me a warm hug in return, like he always did.

So now, I lay in bed, trying to find a permanent solution-or temporarily, it didn't much matter to me-to this unbearable cold that had settled in the flat since the sun had gone down.

And Connor was the lucky one. After all, heat does rise. He was probably just fine up there, all tucked up in his little bed…

Here, right here, is where I finally came up with my solution.


	7. Body Heat

I could hear Abby calling my name. Why was she calling me?

I looked at the alarm clock on the other side of the room, I could barely see the numbers from this far away. After squinting for somewhere around ten or fifteen seconds, I managed to just barely make out a tiny 1:45. So let me rephrase that. Why in the _hell_ was she calling me?

"Connor?" I could hear her, every other step creaking in protest as she walked slowly over them. I guess they were trying to sleep every bit as much as I was.

I lifted my head to look up at her as she reached the foot of the bed. She just stood there, smiling sweetly at me, and, honestly, it was a bit…creepy. I could tell she wanted something, she was making no attempt to hide it. But at almost 2 in the morning?

"Yeah?" I asked softly, blinking at her in the dim light, though I doubt she could see it.

"Connor…do you think you could come here?" she asked, being sure to choose her words carefully.

I ignored my first instinct, to ask, "For what? It's too early for this," and calmly, stupidly, asked, "Come…where?"

She didn't answer my question. "It'll only take a minute, Connor, I promise."

I watched her suspiciously as she moved closer to me, coming around to the other side of the bed and sitting down next to me. "Please, Connor?" She sounded so desperate by now, she almost had me for a moment there.

I turned to look at her. "Abby…" I whined. I didn't want to go downstairs, and do whatever it is she was wanting me to do for her. But, at the same time, I didn't want to be the one to let her down. "In the morning?" I suggested. I waited nervously for some sort of reaction from her.

She smiled and nodded. "Alright. In the morning," she agreed.

I saw her pulling back the covers underneath the spot where she was sitting. "Um…Abby…"

"Hmmm?" The way she looked at me, anyone that didn't know better would've thought that this was the most normal thing in the world, for Abby to be crawling into bed with me.

"Wh-What are you doing?" She made herself comfortable, fluffing the pillow and laying her head on it.

She turned to look at me. "Oh," she said as if just realising what she was doing. But we both knew her better than that.

And, I mean, it wasn't like I wouldn't have noticed. This had never happened any other time up until now, and I wasn't quite sure what to think. I was shocked…and surprised…amazed…and bewildered. But I'd be telling a dreadful lie if I said that I wasn't ecstatic deep down. Or, I don't know, maybe not so deep down-my hands were trembling horribly, and my cheeks were turning red, I could feel my skin growing hot.

And I was grinning-and no, it wasn't that type of 'Oh, that was such a nice dream, I just know I'll wake up smiling' kind of grin. It was the creepy, over-excited 'Oh my god! I can't believe this is really truly happening! Oh, but it is! It is really truly happening!' kind of grin.

I wasn't exactly sure why Abby was in my bed, and, frankly, I didn't care. I mean, was it like I minded? No. Would I mind if this continued to happen every night for as long as we both lived? No, I most certainly would not.

She took a deep breath, looking apologetically at me, as if she expected me to evict her from my bed at any given moment. As if that would ever happen. "I'm sorry, it's just that-"

"You're sorry?" She nodded, surprised that I had interrupted her for just that. "For what?" She didn't, by any means, have to apologise to me. If I wasn't so afraid of what she could possibly say, then I might have even thanked her for coming up here.

"Well, for having to be in here. I know you probably don't want me invading your-"

"Oh no, it's fine," I interrupted. I cleared my throat. "So um…do you think you could invade my space tomorrow night as well?"

She started to glare at me, before a slight smile started to creep across her face. "It's just that it's so cold in my room, from the snow, you know?" she continued, ignoring my previous comment. "See?" She pressed her hands to the sides of my face for a few seconds, flipping them over a couple of times to let me feel the backs of them.

"Mmmm." She moved her hands so that she had them wrapped around my arm. "You're warm," she said, smiling at me.

Naturally, my first reaction would have been to back up, to inch away from her cold hands. No, not just cold. Like ice. I had ice clinging to my arm.

But, despite the chill I was beginning to feel, I didn't move, didn't as much as flinch.

I didn't know how long this would last. It could've been just for tonight, it could've been every night. It didn't much matter to me. I knew that, however long she would continue to be in here, I had to savor it.

As soon as her hands started to warm up, Abby let go of my arm, wrapping her arms around herself again.

I glanced over at her. "Are you okay?" I asked. I didn't even have to thin about it, the words just came out of my mouth.

She nodded. "Yeah," she answered quietly. She smiled again, like she was touched by the fact that I actually cared.

I tried to make eye contact with her, just one last time before we went to sleep. "You're not still cold?"

She shook her head, even though she was tightening her arms around herself. "No. I'm fine, Connor. You helped some."

"You're sure?" I had to ask one more time. I knew she was lying, the way she was acting. She had managed to curl up into a little ball, her arms folded, her head resting on them like a pillow.

She didn't bother nodding this time. "Yes, Connor. I'm alright, really."

I heard a slight tremble in her voice, causing me to look more closely at her. And then I finally noticed. It wasn't just her voice, it was her whole body.

"But, Abs, you're shivering," I said quietly, almost like I was afraid that someone else might hear.

She stared blankly at me. I knew she hated for anyone to try and take care of her, that was for certain, she had made it clear to me many times before. "Connor, I'm fine," she said, her tone a bit more annoyed now. She hadn't denied it, but she hadn't exactly admitted it, either.

I took off my hoodie and held it out to her. "Here, Abs." She stared at me. "Abby, please take it," I insisted. I cared far too much about her to just let her lie shivering in bed next to me.

She reluctantly took it and put it on, knowing that I wasn't going to let this go. "Thank you, Connor," she said, yawning.

"Tired?" I asked, feeling my own eyes begin to close on me.

She nodded. "Yeah. I am," she said softly, as much of a smile on her face as she could muster given the time.

"Goodnight, Connor," she told me, as she came closer to me to give me a quick, ever-so-light, peck. And no, it wasn't just on the cheek. It was a proper peck, on the lips.

"Oh, and Connor?" She had made her way over to my pillow, even though she was turned in the opposite direction. "Hmmm?"

"Happy Christmas." She made a point out of this, turning back around just for the purpose of mumbling it in my ear.

I couldn't stop myself from grinning, couldn't even manage to repeat the same thing she had just said to me. Only one thing, however involuntary it was, came out of my mouth. "So…does this mean you love me?"

She didn't answer. She pretended not to hear me, to already be asleep, or dangerously close to it. But I could've sworn that as she moved, for the third time, closer to me (yes, I was counting), I saw the slightest smile come across her face.


	8. Happy Ending

I felt like I was nothing but a small child again, sitting, legs crossed, on the floor, with both my and Connor's presents in my lap, leaning back against the side of the bed.

Connor stood, hovering, over me. "Sit down," I said softly, patting the floor next to me. "You're making me nervous," I added, when I noticed the way he was looking at me.

He gave a slight smile and joined me on the floor. "So…" He started grinning all of a sudden. "Do you want to go first?" he asked, nodding towards the presents.

I laughed. "No, I think you should, actually," I said, not quite sure what to say if he asked why. "Here." I held my present out to him, trying my best to display a sweet and loving smile on my face. Not that I wasn't capable, it was just that I had just gotten up, I wasn't much in the mood to maintain a bright smile on my face.

He opened it eagerly, not caring if the paper was torn or if the tape I had used to seal the box was ripped. I watched as his grin grew wider. "They're…they're gloves," he said, flipping them over again and again, feeling the material, to make sure they were just right.

I didn't see what could possibly be wrong with them. They were just gloves. Just simple black gloves, cut off at the knuckles. Exactly like his old ones had been.

He looked up at me, after finishing examining the gloves, his eyes wide, his whole face lit up. "Um…thank you…thank you, Abs," he said, stammering slightly as he spoke.

I smiled back at him. "That's alright," I told him, watching as a confused expression came across his face. "But-But I've already got gloves."

I just stared blankly at him. I didn't have to say anything. He wasn't stupid, he could figure it out by himself.

A shocked, horrified look made its way onto his face. "Oh, Abby, you didn't!" He sprang up from where he had been sitting on the floor and hurried over to the trash can on the other side of the room.

I followed after him. I'm not sure why I was rushing. It's not like I would've thrown his gloves away up here. "Connor, they were raggedy…"

He turned around and started to laugh as soon as I was standing next to him. "There were only two holes in them," he said, chuckling, even though he had the most pathetic look on his face.

I laughed along with him. "Come on. Let's go and…open the rest," I said, patting him on the shoulder.

I moved back over to where I had been sitting before, this time getting a pillow from his bed to support myself.

I looked down and smiled. I was still wearing Connor's jacket.

It hung so loosely on me. I had to roll up the sleeves just to be able to see my entire hand. It didn't fit me at all, I knew it never could. But, at the same time, I didn't want to take it off. It had a sort of effect on me, it was…comforting.

"Now it's time to open yours, yeah?" He came and sat down next to me again.

I nodded. "Yeah." I looked at the presents that sat on the floor next to me, picking up the larger of the two. I tried my hardest to guess what could be inside. I couldn't.

The wrapping paper wasn't taped down properly, the box wasn't closed. For some people, this would have caused them to not want to know what was inside. For me, it only made me more eager to find out. I don't know, maybe I'm just weird.

I could see it through the top of the box, or some of it, at least. Red fabric peeked out from between the cardboard flaps.

As I pulled it out of the box, I finally realised what it was. It was a scarf. A red and black plaid scarf.

"Aw, thank you, Connor," I said. "How did you know I wanted one?" I asked curiously. I hadn't told him, or at least I thought I hadn't.

He shrugged. "Well, for one, you're always wearing mine."

I smiled apologetically at him. "So…you've noticed, huh?" He nodded. "Mmhmm."

"Go on, Abby, open the other one," he told me. I hated how he was prodding me. I didn't know what he was in such a hurry for, it was just a Christmas present.

I nodded. "Alright," I agreed. "What is it?" I asked him, shaking the box in an attempt to guess on my own, without him having to tell me.

He shook his head. "I can't tell you that. You've got to see it for yourself," he said, almost teasingly.

The box was light, almost weightless. And it was small and square, like a jewelry box. Oh god…

I was almost scared to open it. My best guess could only be that it was kind of jewelry.

I tried talking myself out of the fear, the anxiousness associated with opening up the box. It wasn't working.

What was I planning on saying…if it did turn out to be a bloody ring? I highly doubted it, but there was still a possibility.

The box suddenly felt heavy in my hands. It slid and stuck in my sweaty palms.

Connor just sat there, grinning at me. "What is it, Abs?"

I shook my head, trying to laugh it off. "Nothing. Sorry," I said softly.

I took a deep breath, tore off the paper, opened the box. And breathed a deep sigh of relief.

It was a necklace. It reminded me of one of those charm bracelets that I used to love wearing when I was younger. It was just a simple, silver chain, with three simple, silver letters. A-B-S. I chuckled. "Course."

His grin grew wider, his eyes lit up. "Do you like it?" he asked, laughing nervously.

I nodded. "Yeah." I chuckled again. "Yeah, Connor, I do."

"You picked this out yourself?" I asked him. Far as I knew, he had never much been the type who knew his way around jewelry of any sort, much less necklaces.

Even more suspicious was the fact that I loved it. It was perfect. It was nothing fancy, a no-frills sort of thing, but, in a strange kind of way, it was unbearably pretty.

Somehow, he had managed to find a necklace that so perfectly reflected my personality.

I could see myself wearing it all the time, never taking it off. I would wear it to work, and if and when someone asked about it, which I already knew that they would, or even if they didn't, I would simply say, "Connor got it for me."

I knew how childish this was going to sound, but, frankly, I didn't care.

"Well, no, not exactly," he admitted, smiling sheepishly at me.

I couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. He actually thought I might get mad. "I thought so."

"Well, I-I did pick it out, but I'm not the one who bought it," he tried to explain.

But it just made me even more confused. "Then who bought it?" "Sarah."

"Sarah?" I couldn't see why Sarah would be buying me a necklace, even if Connor was the one who had picked it out.

He nodded. "I gave her the money for it at work, and she went and bought it during her lunch break."

I laughed at the thought of Connor paying Sarah in some tucked-away corner of the ARC so I wouldn't find out. "I see. And when was this?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Last week. It was on…Tuesday, I think."

I nodded understandingly. I remembered now, Sarah had been gone all throughout lunch. And hadn't come back until a few minutes later.

I found myself laughing, making me realise that I had never stopped laughing from before. "Well, thank you, Connor."

He grinned and nodded. "Do you want some help?" he asked, when he saw me struggling to put the necklace on myself. I nodded. "Please."

I watched him as he got up and sat up on the bed behind me, his knees on either side of my shoulders.

I reached behind me to hand him the necklace. I didn't bother looking, didn't figure I would need to. I knew he would stop me before I had a chance to grab anything else besides his hand. Or, at least, I hoped.

His hand was cold and slightly clammy as he took the necklace out of mine.

He laid the chain gingerly across my neck, being careful not to touch the back of my neck unless it was absolutely necessary. And when he did, when it was necessary, he let his hand linger there for a moment, as if he thought I wouldn't notice.

I couldn't help but to say something. "Connor, your hands are cold," I complained, more to see him squirm at the fact that I was noticing their being on my neck than anything else, having to reach back again to bat his hands away.

He backed up the slightest bit. "Sorry," he said nervously, fastening the back of the necklace quickly. "There," he said proudly.

I got up off of the floor, it was beginning to get uncomfortable.

I grinned as I placed my hands on the bed to support myself and leaned in to kiss him. "Thanks."

I loved how confused he always looked after I kissed him. He would tilt his head, blink a couple of times, and then, as soon as I looked back at him, he would be beaming.

I walked over to the other side of the room and looked at myself in the mirror. I smiled when I saw how perfectly the necklace fit me. It blended in with everything about me, it looked like it had always been there.

Connor came up behind me, that cute little grin of his plastered on his face. "It looks good on you," he said to me.

"It does," I agreed, nodding. "I'm still wearing your jacket," I reminded him.

"I know you are," he answered. "You know, you can keep it if you want."

I pulled it tighter around myself. "Really?" He nodded. "You don't mind?"

"Course not," he answered, shaking his head. He chuckled. "What's mine is yours, yeah?" he joked, elbowing me.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, Connor," I said softly.

He moved closer to me so that we could both be seen in the mirror.

I smiled at how good we looked standing next to each other.

I propped my elbow up on his shoulder, laying my head on my arm like it was a pillow. Connor slid his arm around my waist.

In the old days, probably just a couple of months ago, I would have minded. I would have pushed him away, found some excuse to leave the room.

But now, it didn't bother me. To be honest, it was actually kind of…comforting. This kind of thing was normal for us, an everyday occurrence.

In a sense, we were like little ids that had known each other forever. We knew everything about each other, looked out for each other, and deeply cared about one another.

We were best friends. That odd variety of best friends that was made up of two people that loved one another but were too afraid to say it, but nonetheless best friends.

And, as far as I was concerned, it could stay like this as long as it needed to.


End file.
